


Lunchbox Stickers

by RomeandOtherHistory



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex is a major introvert and doesn't understand why he has friends, Alternate Universe - Elementary School, And Reggie deserves to fall in love, And the best teacher, And they all were born in the early 2000s, Because I want this story to be happy, Because come on Jeremy and Carolynn are too cute, Does mention homophobia in later chapters, Ends in High School, Everyone's alive, F/F, F/M, I mean I would ship him with Luke but, Juke is my religion, Luke and Willie are nightmares as kids, Luke falls in love with everyone, M/M, Multi, Ray is the best Dad, Reggie falls in love with a girl who may or may not be the equivalent of Carolynn Shada, Reggie is an absolute bean, and everyone falls in love with him, as always, but not in detail, feelings are complicated, juke, normal human AU, ruke - Freeform, starts in kindergarten, willex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomeandOtherHistory/pseuds/RomeandOtherHistory
Summary: Kindergarten is when school officially starts for all children in America. Julie, unlike most kids, is actually excited. Her dad, Ray, is her kindergarten teacher, and her two best friends-Flynn and Carrie-are in her class and sit right next to her. Everything is perfect. At least, it is until annoying, rude Luke Patterson puts a bug in her hair during recess. It was on that day that Julie vowed to hate Luke from that day on and forever.
Relationships: Alex & Carlos Molina & Julie Molina & Ray Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Luke Patterson/Alex (Julie and the Phantoms), Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 66
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

"Julie! We need to go!" 

Julie looked up in the direction that Ray's voice came from. "Okay, Dad! Jus' a sec!" 

She turned back over to the three small boxes in front of her. Today was the first day of kindergarten, and that was when all the big decisions had to be made. Such as: should she take crayons, markers, or colored pencils to school today? Her dad yelled at her to hurry up, and so Julie shoved them all into her backpack and ran down the stairs going two at a time. 

A few moments later, she was sitting in the back of her car, staring out at the window. Julie hugged her backpack tightly, but not out of nervousness. She was very excited to be in kindergarten. Julie didn't have to worry about getting a mean or nice teacher because Ray was her teacher, and she already knew he was nice. Also, Carrie and Flynn were in her class. Already, she knew that kindergarten was going to be amazing. 

Also, she had a pack of Oreos for lunch. 

They were at the school early, as they had to be early for her dad to finish setting up the classroom. Julie had helped him with the decorating throughout the summer, so the classroom was bright and colorful and full of pictures of animals and plants. There were some spaces, but they were to hang up student's works throughout the year. Today, Ray just needed to take the chairs off the tables and organize his lesson plans before the kids came into class. 

Julie helped Ray take the chairs off the tables before sitting at a desk and taking out her school supplies to put into her desk. She first put in her colored pencils, then her markers, and then her crayons. Once those were all in her desk, Julie brought out her sketchbook and her notebook and put those in the desk. Finally, as she was putting in her regular pencils and pens, Flynn came running into the room. 

"Julie!" she exclaimed, tackling her into a hug. 

"Flynn! You're here!" Julie patted the desk next to her. "Sit here!" 

Flynn set her backpack beside her desk and dug around in it, pulling out a crumpled flower crown from Claire's. "Julie, this is for you!" 

As she helped Julie put the flower crown on, the bell rang. Kids came pouring into the room, giggling and chattering loudly except for the few kids that were silently staring into the room with wide, fear-filled eyes. It seemed as though the kids were either bursting with excitement or about to cry. Carrie was another one of the excited kids as she bounced over to Flynn and Julie. 

"Julie!" She bear hugged her before turning to hug Flynn. "Flynn!" 

"Carrie! Your dad let you come here!" 

The three girls visited with each other as more kids came in, some obviously dropped off late by their parents and others that were just taking their sweet time as they didn't quite want to stop visiting with their friends. Ray waited patiently as they filed in, even after the tardy bell rang. 

...

Alex was one of the kids that was ready to start crying. He had just moved from New York to California, and so he knew no one. It wasn't like that'd matter. Alex had only one friend back in New York, and they had moved before he had. But it was the fact that not only was the class different, so was the school, the people, the city, and his own house. It was too much, and he had not been given time to adjust. But Alex didn't dare argue or cry. His parents would yell at him, and he hated that more than being at a weird new school. 

So, he sat down in the corner furthest from the other students and from the teacher, trying to not panic as he realized that he had forgotten has school supplies and had only brought his lunch. Everyone was so loud and the lights were too bright and what if the teacher was mean and his parents were gonna be so mad if they found out he forgot his things and-

"Hey, are you alright?" 

Looking up, Alex saw a man with a very kind face, and, slowly, he shook his head. "Don't be mad." 

"Why would I be mad?" Ray asked. 

"I forgot my things," Alex whispered. "I'm sorry." 

"Well, it is just the first day of school. I was just thinking of having you guys draw some pictures of things you like so that I can get to know you." Ray fell quiet. "How about you sit over there, with those three girls? I know that they have plenty of supplies." 

He pointed over to Julie, Flynn, and Carrie who were all showing each other all of their crayons. It was true that those three girls looked nice, but Alex was terrified that he would do something or say something weird and they'd hate him. So, he shook his head vigorously. 

"I...I want to stay here. Please." 

"Alright. I won't make you sit with them. But, if you want to, you can always sit there." Ray stood up straight and walked to the front of the class, the children going silent as he did. "Hey everyone! It's so nice to see you here! My name is Mr. Molina, and I will be your teacher this year-" 

...

After Ray explained to everyone what they were doing and all the kids were busy, he knelt beside Julie. "Hey Jules?" 

She looked up from her drawing. "Yeah?" 

"Do you know that boy in the far corner? The only one all by himself? Can you try talking to him to see if he'll join you three? It's okay if you guys don't become friends, but I just don't want him to feel excluded." 

Julie stared at him with a confused expression. "He's not alone, though."

"What?" Ray looked over to Alex, were he saw that there was, in fact, another student with him. "Oh! Excellent! Then don't worry about it, Jules. You guys keep having fun." 

He sat down at his own desk, looking over and seeing that there was about an hour and a half until lunchtime. Ray decided that it would be best for him to keep an eye on the kids to make sure that they were all being nice to each other and that they weren't misbehaving in any way. Eventually, his gaze rested on Alex and the other boy that was with him. Alex was still sitting silently, eyes fixed on the desk. 

Alex was obviously shy, and almost painfully so, but the other boy didn't seem to care. He seemed to be Alex's complete contrast. Alex was neat, with his blond hair combed and he was very neat. The other-who's name escaped Ray-had his jaw-length hair going in every direction and a wild look in his eyes. Ray hoped that he could somehow break Alex's shell and get him to interact with more people. 

A knock came at the door and Ray beckoned for whoever was knocking to come in. In came a very apologetic-looking woman with a small boy.

"I am so sorry that Luke is late. We mixed up what date schools supposed to start," she said. 

Ray waved his hand. "It's the first day. I think I can make an exception." 

The woman sighed in relief. "Thank you. Now, Luke, you behave yourself. I'll see you this afternoon." 

"Ok, mom. Bye!" He hugged her before looking around the room and immediately sat himself down with the girls. "So ladies, I see that you are working on some of the greatest masterpieces I've seen." 

They all stared at him in confusion as Ray stifled a laugh. He could already tell that Luke was going to make his class a bit more interesting. 

...

Julie was not happy. Not at all. She, Flynn, and Carrie had been perfectly happy with each other but then this random boy sat down and started to talk to them. 

"I'm...just drawing a flower," Carrie muttered. 

He nodded knowingly. "It's a very nice flower." 

"Who are you?" Julie asked. 

"My name's Luke." He grinned widely. "Is your name Angel?" 

"What? No, it's Julie!" she exclaimed. "Why would my name be Angel?"

Luke shrugged. "No reason. What're you drawing, Julie?" 

"Nothing." Julie continued to work on her drawing. "You need to be drawing too, you know." 

"Right. Okay." Luke stood up and took a paper from the stack Ray set out and came back. "What are we supposed to be drawing?" 

"Our favorite things," Flynn replied. "Like food and stuff." 

"Alrighty! I can do that!" Luke got to work right away, a concentrated expression on his face.

Julie sighed in relief, happy that he was quiet. She kept on talking to Flynn and Carrie. Carrie was telling them about her dad's new album and how it was going to be his best music ever. After a little while, though, Flynn leaned over to Julie. 

"He keeps looking at you," Flynn half-whispered. 

Julie whipped around and crossed her arms. "Why do you keep looking at me?" 

"You have flowers in your hair," Luke replied before looking down at his drawing. 

"Hmph." Julie sunk down in her seat. "What are you drawing?" 

"Nothing," he said cheekily, repeating Julie's reply from earlier. 

Julie was very happy when lunchtime came.


	2. Luke, Leia, and Han Solo

Alex sat alone. Again. Even though the boy who sat by him-Willie-had been nice, Alex felt exhausted. How could someone talk that much? Alex hadn't been able to keep up with a word that he said. Though, even though Alex need to recharge, he felt...sad. Especially when he caught a glimpse of Willie and saw that he was surrounded by other kids who were laughing and looked like they were having fun. It looked like Willie was friends with everyone. 

And Alex had no one. 

"Can...can I sit next to you?" 

It took Alex a moment to realize that he was the one being addressed. He turned to face a black-haired boy in a bright red shirt that looked just as nervous as he was. For a moment, Alex wanted to say "no," but something stopped him. He remembered when people told him that he couldn't be with them. It hurt. So, he sighed and nodded. A tiny smile appeared on the other boy's face. 

"I'm Reggie," he said once he sat down. "Who are you?" 

"Alex," Alex told him very quietly. 

"That's a cool name. Not a lot of names have 'x' in them." 

"Thanks." Alex tapped mindlessly on his leg. "Um..."

Just as he was about to say something, Luke sat across from them, practically slamming his lunchbox in front of them. "Hello there!" 

"Hi," Reggie and Alex both murmured. 

"What do you guys have for lunch? My mom only gave me vegetables." Luke's nose wrinkled. 

"I only have vegetables too," Alex said softly. "You're Luke, right? You came in late." 

Luke nodded. "Yep! That's me! And I heard you guys tell each other your names. You're Reggie and Alex." 

"How did you hear us?!" Reggie exclaimed. 

"I have good ears." Luke tapped the side of his head, then leaned towards both of them. "This is VERY important question I'm gonna ask." 

"What?" Alex asked nervously. 

"Do you guys..." Luke paused dramatically. "Do you guys like Star Wars?" 

"I do!" Reggie raised his hand. "I like Han Solo!" 

"I've only seen two movies," Alex explained, turning red. "My...parents don't think it teaches 'good morals'." 

"What? That's crazy!" Luke practically yelled. "What does 'good morals' mean?" 

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. That's just what they said." 

"Parents are so weird sometimes." Luke shook his head. "Well, do you have a favorite?" 

"Um...the princess-" 

"Is it because you think she's pretty?" Luke grinned. 

"No!" Alex said quickly. "I don't like girls. I just think she's cool! I like her hair." 

"That's fair." Luke reached into his backpack. "Your lunchboxes are about to be so awesome." 

"What?"

Luke pulled out a book and took out his lunchbox, which was covered in stickers. "I'm gonna make your lunchboxes look like mine. See? It's covered in Luke Skywalker. I like him because his name is Luke. Like me!" 

"You're gonna cover my lunchbox in Han Solo?! That's so cool!" Reggie took his lunch out of his lunchbox and handed it to Luke, who opened the book-which was a sticker book-and started to put stickers of Han Solo all over Reggie's lunchbox. 

"I don't think my parents would be very happy if I came home and hand stickers all over my lunchbox." Alex started to tap his leg again. "They'll probably say that it makes it hard to wash my lunchbox." 

"Then your parents are lame." Luke rolled his eyes. "Just tell them that you'll wash your lunchbox yourself! They can't be mad about that." 

Eventually, Alex agreed, and-like Reggie-his lunchbox was soon covered in an array of Star Wars stickers. Luke ran out of Han Solo and Leia so he added some stickers of Yoda and R2-D2. As a thank-you, Reggie gave Luke two cookies and then gave two to Alex as well because he let Reggie sit next to him. 

As they ate, Alex noticed that Luke's eyes kept wandering. "What're you looking at?" 

"Hm? Nobody," Luke said quickly. "Do any of you want my lettuce?" 

Reggie gasped. "You're looking at someone!" 

"Am not!" Luke argued. 

"You like someone already," Reggie sang. "Who is it?" 

"You two are weird," Alex muttered. 

"I said no one," Luke grumbled, but still stole a glance in the direction he had been looking before. 

Quick as a whip, Reggie turned to see who Luke was looking at and smirked. "It's JULIE!" 

"SHHHH!" Luke hushed him. "She can't know! And...how did you know her name?" 

"We were in the same preschool class," Reggie explained. "We never played together but I know her name. She is very pretty." 

"Yeah," Luke sighed. "We're gonna get married." 

"Ew," Alex said at the same time Reggie said "Yes!" 

"Why don't you like girls?" Luke asked. "They're beautiful!" 

"You don't even know what that means!" Alex argued. 

"Yes I do! It...it..." Luke trailed off, then pouted. "Fine. I don't. But I can still call them that because it's a compliment! And if you don't like girls now you'll like them someday!" 

"No I won't." 

"Yes you will." 

"Gross. I will NEVER like a girl." 

"Fine then." Luke took a bite out of his food. "More ladies for me. But then who would you like? Oh! Do you like boys?" 

"No. Boys are gross too. Like you. You have ranch on your shirt." Alex crinkled his nose. 

Luke shrugged. "It's fine." 

"I don't think she thinks it's fine," Reggie whispered, pointing at Julie, who was staring at Luke with a very unimpressed expression. 

Luke smiled a waved. "Hi Julie!" 

She glared at him before turning to whisper to Flynn and Carrie. Luke ignored this and only smiled wider. 

"She's in love with me." 

"In your dreams," Alex muttered. 

"What?"

"I said maybe someday," Alex corrected himself. "She just doesn't seem to like you much right now." 

"Well, that's fine." Luke raised an eyebrow. "I've got a plan."


	3. Princess Superstars

Willie didn't really have lots of friends. Other kids liked him, and he liked the other kids. But, for some reason, they never stuck around. He was a temporary friend; someone that was good for entertainment. Whenever Willie was doing or saying something funny, everyone would crowd around him. Then, he would get up to go to the playground and he would be alone. Again, he didn't know or understand why. 

So, most of the time, Willie would spend recess by himself, usually drawing with sidewalk chalk. Well, less drawing than crushing up chalk and putting handprints all over the concrete. More got onto him than actually on the sidewalk, but that didn't matter. 

Halfway through recess, Willie looked up to observe the other kids. Everyone seemed to be with someone. Except...Alex. Odd. Willie thought he'd had two boys with him just moments earlier. Then, he realized why Alex wasn't with them. They were playing tag on the play equipment, which wasn't allowed. You could only play tag on the field. And Alex definitely wasn't the rule-breaker type. So, he was sitting by himself on a bench. Reading a book. 

Reading?! Willie stood up. He couldn't read. Most kindergarteners couldn't. He had to see if Alex was actually reading or if he was just looking at pictures. The book looked very big and important. And boring. But you could never be sure. 

"What're you reading?" 

Alex nearly fell off the bench in fright, then composed himself. "Um...It's called...'Where the Red Fern Grows.'" 

"Red fern? What's a fern?" 

"A...a plant." 

"You're reading a book about plants?" 

"No, it's about dogs." 

"But it's called 'Red Fern.'" 

Alex sighed. "I don't know why either. But it's a very nice story right now, and I'd like to keep reading it." 

To anyone, this would be a clear sign that Alex wanted to be left alone. But not to Willie. Instead he sat down beside him, staring hard at the page. He definitely didn't want to seem stupid to Alex, and so he acted like he was reading along. He could recognize all the letters and a few of the words, but there was no way that he could follow along. Especially not with Alex turning the page every second. 

"It doesn't seem that interesting," Willie concluded. "There isn't even any pictures." 

"Yes there are," Alex argued. "They're right there on the page." 

"No there isn't! There's just words!" Willie exclaimed. "So it's boring!" 

Alex pointed at the page. "The words are the picture. You read them and then it creates a picture in your head. Like a movie. I'm making a movie in my brain." 

"Okay, that does sound pretty cool, but only if what you're reading is cool." Willie clapped his hands together, making clouds of chalk. "Do you have lotion? My hands are dry." 

"I do, but you need to apologize and admit that my book is cool." Alex held his book protectively against his chest to keep it from getting chalk dust on it. 

"Well I don't know if it is or not!" Willie went quiet. "I can't read." 

Silence between them. 

"That's fine," Alex told him. "Go wash your hands. Lotion won't help with chalk on them." 

Willie came back some time later and Alex opened the top of his backpack. "You're lucky. I forgot everything else except for my lunch, my book, and my Help Pack." 

"'Help Pack?'" Willie repeated. "What's that?" 

Alex went a bit red. "I call it that because...it helps me. It has band-aids, hand sanitizer, lotion, and my..." 

He paused, and Willie stared. "Your what?" 

"Nothing." Alex handed him a small bottle. "But I can't leave home without it." 

Willie sat down by Alex again. "Can you read the book to me?" 

"What?" 

"You said that it was about dogs. I like dogs," Willie explained. "And you like the book." 

Alex gave him a small smile. "You'd really want me to read to you?" 

Willie nodded. "Yeah. I'm not doing anything else." 

Carefully, Alex put the bookmark that was by his feet back into the book and turned to the first page. "'When I left my office that beautiful spring day, I had no idea what was in store...'" 

...

Luke climbed higher...higher...he was on top of the monkey bars now. He sat in the middle, legs hanging off the edge. The tagger looked up at him with an exclamation of "that's cheating!" but then moved on when a different kid ran past. Feeling quite proud of himself, Luke gazed over the playground. He felt as though he was on top of the world, even though he was only seven feet in the air. When you were five and hardly over three feet tall, seven feet sure felt like the top of the world. 

Below him, Julie, Carrie, and Flynn walked by. They were saying things like "we shall go see the mother tonight..." "I see that you have a new crown..." and "my what a lovely silk dress..." so Luke could easily guess that they were pretending to be princesses. Odd. But that didn't matter, because Julie was right there. 

"Julie!" 

She looked up at him. "What are you doing up there?!" 

"Just looking out for you, m'lady!" he replied. "Couldn't let the princesses get hurt!" 

"We aren't princesses we're SUPERSTARS!" 

Now Luke was even more confused, but he went with it. "Well you are still a princess to me." 

Julie squinted at him. "Weirdo. You'll get in trouble being up there!" 

"Will I? The duty teacher isn't even watching." Luke started to kick his legs in the air. "So, what kind of superstars are you?" 

"Princess superstars," Carrie said. 

"I thought you said that you weren't princesses." 

"Well there's a difference between princesses and princess superstars," Flynn told him matter-of-factly. "Princesses don't get to do cool things. But superstars do. And princess superstars don't need a guard!" 

"Come on my dears sisters." Julie took their hands and turned around. "We shouldn't let the lowlife peasants speak to us, remember?" 

When they left, Luke got off of the monkey bars, where Reggie was waiting for him. "Luke, she doesn't like you." 

"Did you see her eyes? They're so sparkly." 

At that time, the bell rang, letting them know that lunchtime and recess was over and that they had to go back to class. Luke chased after Julie, who yelled at him to leave her alone. Reggie felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Alex and Willie standing there. 

"Um...do you remember where our class is?" 

Reggie nodded. "Do you think Luke is cool?" 

"I don't know." 

"Who's Luke?" Willie asked. 

"He came in late. And I think he's awesome." Reggie hugged his sticker-covered lunchbox closer to him. "He's already my best friend."


	4. Home Life

(Trigger Warnings: Mentions of neglect and also religious homophobia and emotional manipulation/abuse)

"Sweetheart, are you alright? You've been awfully quiet." 

Julie looked away from the window to see her dad staring at her through his rearview mirror. "I'm okay." 

"Well did you have a good first day?" Ray asked. 

"Yeah! Class was awesome! That was a fun game," she told him, referring to the icebreaker game they'd played to introduce themselves to the other kids. 

"Oh good." Seeming assured, Ray did not press further. 

In honesty, Julie was feeling guilty. She was wondering if she'd been too mean to Luke, just because he was a boy. He didn't seem offended, but Ray had told her that some people were good at pretending to be happy. Did she make him sad? Was he just trying to be friends? Julie felt worse the more she thought about it. 

"Dad...am I mean?" 

"What?" Ray's eyebrows creased. "You're certainly not, sweetheart, but what made you think that?" 

"I was kinda rude to Luke," Julie explained. "I feel bad." 

"Well, was he being rude to you?" 

"No? Um...maybe? I'm not really sure," Julie admitted. "He was being annoying." 

"Well little boys can definitely be annoying," Ray laughed. "How about you give him a chance? Of course, if you tell him to stop doing something and he won't stop, you can come tell me. But I think that he just wants to be friends." 

Julie huffed. "Fine. I'll try. But if he keeps being annoying I will NOT be friends with him." 

"And that's fine," Ray said. "Just don't be mean or annoying back, okay?" 

"I know. Can Flynn and Carrie come over?" 

"Hm..." Ray thought for a moment. "Why not? Just for a few hours, alright?" 

...

Reggie had to walk home. He knew that his mom and dad weren't going to pick him up. He'd waited, of course, but they didn't show up. This had happened in preschool as well. Except, in preschool, he hadn't figured out how to leave by himself and would often be there until five or six. It'd happened to the point that his preschool teacher called social workers, but they couldn't find any signs of neglect. And Reggie had begged to not be taken away, because, despite the little attention he was given, Reggie loved his parents. 

Today, Reggie realized that he just needed to point at one of the parents waiting to walk home with their kids and say that it as his mom or dad. Then, he left quickly, walking with that family until they turned on their own street. From there, he walked alone, walking for a very long time. 

It was about thirty minutes later that Reggie realized he was lost. He recognized the four-way intersection before his street, but he didn't know which street to turn on. Was it left or right? Reggie didn't know. He felt sick and his vision became blurry as tears filled his eyes. Why couldn't they just pick him up? It would only take them five minutes to get to the school and five more to come back. 

"Hey, you're my mom's friend's sister's kid!" 

Reggie rubbed his eyes, turning around to see a girl that was taller and definitely older than him staring at him with a concerned expression. Her hair was in pigtails and she was wearing a tutu with rainboots. She was missing a tooth and there were freckles all over her face. 

"Are you okay?" she asked. 

"I can't find my house," Reggie whispered. "Can you help me?" 

She grinned widely. "Yeah! I'm in second grade an' guess what? I can read! What's your street?" 

"It's...it's a sort of seashell..." Reggie thought hard. "Conch!" 

"Conch..." she repeated, staring hard at the street signs. "Follow me!" 

Tugging on the hem of his shirt nervously, Reggie followed her down what he now recognized as his own street. "What's your name?" 

"Carolynn Kiara Rowland," she told him proudly. "But just call me Kiara." 

"Oh. That's pretty." Reggie looked around to make sure they didn't miss his house. 

"Thanks. What's your name?" she asked. 

"Reggie," he whispered. 

"Aw, that's so cute!" she exclaimed. "Why are you walking home by yourself? I thought that you need someone to walk with you." 

"Um...my parents didn't pick me up. So I...pretended that they were there and left," Reggie explained. "Why are you walking by yourself?" 

"I got home from school twenty minutes ago, and I'm on my way to see my friend Tori." Kiara balanced on the curve. "She lives on Conch too." 

Reggie was about to say something else when his house came into view. "Oh! There's my home! Goodbye! Have fun with your friend!" 

"Bye Reggie!" Kiara waved at him before skipping off. 

Reggie walked up to his front door, the sound of the waves from the nearby beach calming him. His parents' car was gone, meaning that they had left to go somewhere. Just not to get him from school. But there was someone that he knew would be home. 

His older sister gasped loudly as she opened the door. "Reggie! I thought mom and dad left to go get you!" 

...

Willie ran over to his uncle, who tossed him a helmet. "Let's go!" 

Going home was the best part of the day for Willie. His uncle would always be there, holding a helmet, skateboards ready. They would stop for a drink at Sonic and then his uncle would drop Willie off at home. Willie would hand his helmet and skateboard to his uncle, who'd tuck it under his arm and skate away. 

Today was just like any other day, except Willie knew that he wasn't going home. His parents were doing one of their "spiritual rituals," meaning that Willie was going to spend the afternoon with his Uncle. Home life wasn't bad. It was just weird. Willie's parents were constantly high on some form of LSD introduced to them by their hippie parents when they were ten and twelve. Their "spiritual rituals" were just them taking more LSD than usual and then sleep for the entire day. 

Even when they weren't high, they didn't act like other parents. Willie never got in trouble for anything he did. He could break a window and his parents would just say that "the universe directed him to do it" and then move on. He was never told "no" and was even encouraged to explore things that other parents would deem unsafe and immoral to teach a child. They were the kind of people who believed in aliens but to a terrifying extent where they thought that they were the creators of humans and wished to be abducted to meet "the fathers of the human soul." 

It sounded fake, and no one believed Willie when he said his parents were like that, but it was true. If it wasn't for his uncle, Willie would probably be just like them. He acted as a true parental figure, reprimanding Willie for misbehaving, teaching him the difference between wrong and right, and that there was so such thing as being "guided by the universe." You made all of your own decisions, which led to consequences that could be good or bad. 

"I don't understand my brother and sister-in-law," he'd say, shaking his head. "They both saw what their lifestyle did to our parents. Your grandparents." 

"What happened?" Willie would ask. 

His uncle would never answer, ruffle his hair and say, "Let's grab a soda, huh?" 

...

Luke took the bus with Alex, but-while Alex was one of the first kids to get off-Luke was one of the last. His mom was there to greet him, and he ran excitedly off the bus to hug her. 

"How was school?" she asked him. 

"Fantastic. Mr. Molina is awesome!" He grinned widely. "I made two new best friends, and I met Julie!" 

"Who's Julie?" 

"The prettiest girl ever, and she's going to marry me someday," Luke informed his mom. 

She laughed. "Oh, is that so? Has she said yes?" 

"No, it's too soon to tell her that she's going to marry me. She might faint," Luke explained. "I have to make sure that we're friends first, so that she's not surprised." 

"Good plan." Emily hugged him closer. "Oh, Luke." 

"Is Dad going to be home for dinner tonight?" he asked. 

Emily shook her head. "I'm sorry, Luke, but you know that he has to work extra hard to try and get promoted." 

"I know," Luke said sadly. "But I want him to be home right now!" 

"Luke, we need the money so that we can repay college debt and save up so that YOU don't have college debt." 

"Then I just won't go to college," Luke decided. "So that you don't have to pay for it." 

"No, honey, don't say that. Please. We really want you to go to college so that you can be successful in the future. Don't you want to have lots of money, a big house, a nice car?" 

"No," Luke said firmly. "I don't want that." 

"What if Julie wants that?" Emily pointed out. 

Luke looked up at her. "If Julie wants me to become a doctor, I'll become a doctor. But I won't be happy while doing it. And besides, Julie is cool. She'll let me to lots of stuff." 

"Oh, you're sure about that?" 

"Yep." Luke nodded. "She's the best. And she has flowers in her hair, and her hair is super curly and it makes her look like a princess or a fairy or something and-" 

...

Alex hated going home. And yet he never wanted to leave home either. It was a terrible conflict that didn't seem to have a solution. Either he'd go home to parents who constantly stared at him with disapproving looks, never had a word of praise for him, and who constantly told him over and over again how wicked it was to play video games, to like certain movies, to listen to music that wasn't gospel music, et cetra. 

He didn't hate religion because of it. Alex had leaders in church that were kind. In fact, it had been a pastor who had been the first person to tell Alex that he was proud of him. It was when Alex joined the choir, and Alex wasn't that good at first because he was so scared. But, over a few months, he slowly just ignored his fear and let himself sing. He finally performed before a congregation, and it was a solo no less. Afterwards, the pastor told him that he had a beautiful voice, and that he had seen how hard Alex had worked, and that he was proud of his progress in the choir. His parents, however, told him that he sang far too high. 

Alex didn't hate religion. He just hated how some people practiced it. 

He didn't want to go home, but, if he didn't go home, that would leave him with strangers who stared and whispered and judged. He would get questions, such as why he would not go home. He would ruin his parent's reputation. No good parents would have a child that didn't want to go home. That'd happened before. In preschool. He'd hurt their good image. 

It was the first day of preschool. The first day that Alex had been happy. He'd gotten to draw pictures that he wanted to draw, not just pictures of angels and of scripture stories. He'd gotten to sing songs that had nothing to do about holiness or praising the lord. They were songs about frogs sitting on a log, a farmer and all the animals he had, and a song about letters. 

There, in that building, Alex may as well had been in paradise. 

No high expectations. He wasn't yelled at when he accidentally wrote the "e" in his name backwards. Instead, his teacher told him how surprised she was that he could write his name at all and how it was fantastic that he could write and read. 

When the day ended, Alex cried. He cried like he never had before. Perhaps it was because, in his house, he wasn't allowed to cry unless it was because he was "feeling the spirit of the Lord" or if it was because he realized that he would have go back to the place that made him hate himself so much. Or maybe it was because he had, for once, experienced a normal childhood.

His teacher called his parents, and they were furious when he got home. 

He could never cry. Even when they weren't around. Or else people would think that they were bad parents. And if they were bad parents then they were bad people. And if they were bad people then they could no longer be holy and then their chance of going to heaven was ruined. 

Alex didn't want to do that to them. 

So that's why he went home. 

They told them that they were doing the right thing. And they couldn't lie, because that would be a sin. So they must be telling the truth. They must've really be trying hard to make Alex perfect and he was just the one who was messing up. He was the reason why they got angry at him and why he was always a disappointment and why he just couldn't seem to be perfect. He was imperfect, and they were perfect. So they were just trying to do help him become perfect like them. So that he could go to heaven too. 

Right?


	5. A/N

Hey guys so I just got accepted at a new job that is going to take up a lot of my time so updates aren't going to be as often. Also sorry for how heavy the last chapter was-that's going to be the only sad chapter for awhile the majority of them are going to be very lighthearted and little slice of life chapters.


	6. You're a Drummer

Julie was exhausted the next day at school. What had turned into "just a few hours" turned into a sleepover without much sleep. Julie, Carrie, and Flynn were up until midnight painting each others' nails, talking, and coloring. Then, even when told to go to bed, they were up for a few more hours whispering and giggling back and forth. Now, they were paying the price. They were all sitting with their heads on the desk as they waited for class to start, Flynn already asleep just after sitting for five minutes. 

Since she was tired, Julie had a very low patience level. She was trying her best to be happy because she didn't like feeling angry, but she couldn't help it. She was mostly angry at herself, but, when you're angry at yourself, you can get angry at others very easily. 

Luke, as usual, was very loud and chatty. He didn't even notice their lack of attention or the fact that Carrie kept glaring at him. Julie was trying to keep in mind what her dad had told her. She had to give Luke a chance. He probably just wanted to be friends. 

"Luke, I need you to quiet down now," Ray told him as he stood in front of the class. 

"Sure, Sir." Luke nodded and began to sit quietly. 

Ray began teaching them about the alphabet, and Alex could not sit still. He already knew all of this. He was only in kindergarten because he wasn't all that good at math. But reading? Reading was easy. Before he knew it, he was tapping. At first on his leg, but then on his chair. Making a small "ding, ding, ding" sound. Ray didn't hear it, but other kids did, and they started to turn to stare in his direction. Alex stopped tapping immediately, but it was a nervous habit and so it only took a few seconds for him to start tapping again. This time, Ray did hear. 

"Alex, could you stop tapping please?" he asked calmly. "Do you have a question?" 

"No." Even though Ray hadn't gotten angry, Alex still felt as though he'd been scolded. "I'm okay. Sorry." 

Ray continued with the lesson, teaching all the different sounds each letter made. It only took five minutes for Alex to start tapping again, and he didn't realize until he noticed that everyone was staring at him. Some kids were even glaring. Alex wished that he could disappear. This habit had developed over the summer, and it was one of the only things that his parents hadn't been bothered by. Perhaps they just never noticed that he was the one making all the tapping noises. Ray will still teaching the class, but he was glancing over at Alex occasionally. 

This happened five more times. All before lunch. Alex wished he could stop but he couldn't. He sat on his hands, repeated over and over in his mind "don't tap, don't tap, don't tap." He even pinched his hands whenever they started twitching. But those tactics only worked for so long. Then, before he knew what he was doing, he would be tapping again. Ray would calmly remind him to stay quiet, but every time he was called out felt like a knife in the stomach. 

Lunchtime came, and Alex stood up quickly, wanting to be out of the sight of his classmates and his teacher. But, before he could leave, Ray stopped him. 

"Alex, I need to speak to you." 

"Oooooooo," the entire class went at once. 

"Guys, he's not in trouble. Now go to lunch." Ray shook his head. 

Alex wanted to die. 

He stood there, staring at the ground until everyone left. He bit his lip, trying hard to not cry. Alex was terrified. He hated getting into trouble. What if his parents were called? What if he was yelled at? What if-

"Alex, can you use both of your hands?" 

"What?" Alex looked up, wiping the tears from his eyes. 

"Here, let me explain better." Ray walked back to his desk and took out a paper and a pencil. "Write your name with your right hand." 

Alex didn't know why he was doing this, but it was better than being yelled at. So, as neatly as he could, Alex wrote his name. Ray watched him carefully, then nodded approvingly. 

"Now, write with your left hand." 

Alex did just that. 

"Now, this is the final test." Ray smiled and pulled out another pencil. "Draw a cat and write your name." 

It took Alex a moment, but then, something clicked, and he was able to do what he was asked. "Mr. Molina...I don't understand. Are my hands broken?" 

"No, no," Ray laughed. "Alex, you're ambidextrous. You can use both your hands to do different things at the same time." 

"Oh. But...what does this have to do with the tapping? I thought I was in trouble. I was being loud," Alex whispered. 

"You were being disruptive," Ray admitted. 

"I'm sorry," Alex hung my head. "I know that I'm a problem sometimes." 

Ray was quiet for moment. "Hey, you go off to lunch. You're not in trouble. Okay?" 

"Really?" Alex could nearly sob from relief. "I'm not in trouble?" 

"No, you're not," Ray confirmed. "Now go. I have something to do." 

...

Lunch was only an hour long, and home was a twenty minute drive away, but Ray knew what he had to do. He'd heard about Alex before; he was friends with several other teachers and he'd realized that Alex must be the boy that one of the preschool teachers was talking about. The boy who was too mature and too scared and too quiet for a kid his age. Yes, some kids were shy at kindergarten age, but not at the level he was. 

He knew what Alex needed. He needed encouragement. Ray had even said that he wasn't in trouble and yet Alex acted as though Ray told him that they were selling his dog. 

It took Ray a moment to find what he was looking for, but, when he did, he smiled to himself. Then, he jumped into his car and drove back to the school, hoping he'd be there in time. 

...

"Alex!" Willie tackled him in a hug the moment he walked into the lunchroom. "Are you in trouble? Did Mr. Molina yell at you? I hope not. He's rude if he did!" 

"I'm okay. I'm not in trouble. He just told me I was ambi...ambiderix." Alex couldn't remember the word. 

"Oh no! Are you sick?!" Willie first started to try and hug him again but then backed up. "Wait! Don't get ME sick! I can't get sick!" 

"I'm not sick!" Alex protested. "Here, I'll show you after we eat." 

"Then you'll keep reading the book to me after, right? I like the book it's nice." 

Alex hugged his backpack tighter to him. "Yeah. I can read to you." 

...

Luke was very happy when Julie told him that he could sit by her. Even if she said it was only if he stayed quiet. He would happily glue his mouth shut if it meant he could sit by her. Luke told her this and all three girls stared at him with a mortified expression. 

"You shouldn't eat glue," Carrie said. "My dad said it'll rot your brain." 

Flynn's face dropped. "What?" 

"She accidentally ate some," Julie informed Carrie. 

"How did she accidentally eat glue?" Luke asked, now curious. 

"I thought it was candy!" Flynn exclaimed. "It was SPARKLY! And it looked really good!" 

Carrie hugged her. "I'm so sorry. If your brains rot, I'll be there for you." 

"Me too." Julie patted Flynn's hand. "Why do you keep talking to us, Luke?" 

"Because you smell really good," Luke said. "Like...sugar." 

"Sugar doesn't have a smell!" Flynn argued. 

"Yes it does! I think that glue is already rotting your brain," Luke huffed. 

"Be nice to her!" Carrie hugged Flynn again. "It's not her fault!" 

"Sorry, that was mean," Luke agreed. "But it does have a smell! And you guys all smell like sugar!" 

"Weird." Julie wrinkled her nose. "Don't you have friends?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah! But they'll be okay. Alex an' Reggie are sitting with each other. And another kid too. He said he's named Willie." 

"Well, if you have friends, why do you like us so much?" Flynn raised an eyebrow. 

"I like having LOTS of friends. Both boys AND girls!" Luke paused. "Girls are cool because they know how to make things pretty. And they're smarter than boys most of the time." 

Julie, Flynn, and Carrie all looked at each other, nodded, and then Julie put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Good job. You've passed the test." 

...

"Okay, class, I know that it's five minutes early, but you can all go now so that you're first in line for the buses and to be picked up." 

A cheer went through the kindergarten class as they began packing up their things. Alex started to pack his things up quietly when Ray came up and put a piece of paper on his desk. Confused, Alex opened it up and read it. It said "stick around after class." 

His heart dropped. Maybe he was in trouble after all. He looked over at Willie, but Willie wasn't paying attention. He was talking to someone else. Perhaps Alex could act like he couldn't read and just leave. But...he knew that wouldn't be right. 

Now, everyone was gone except for Julie, Flynn, and Ray, who first spoke to them. "Julie, we're taking Flynn home today. Can you two wait on the bench by the parking lot? I'll be down there in a minute." 

Once they were gone, Ray gestured for Alex to come over to the desk, only speaking once he did. "Alex, you said that you know that you're a problem. Is there a reason for that?" 

Alex swallowed. "I...I've just been told that...before." 

"By who?" Ray's eyebrows creased together. 

"By teachers," Alex lied immediately. 

"Hm." Ray let out a sigh. "Alex, I think I have a solution for you. If you want to tap, tap on this." 

He handed Alex a circle of fabric, and he stared at it. "What's this?" 

"It's a mute." Ray smiled. "A drum mute. Put it on your desk, and you can tap as much as you want without disturbing anyone." 

"Oh." Alex turned a bit red. "Thank you." 

"Alex, one more thing; you're not a problem." Ray reached into the drawers of his desk. "You're a drummer." 

And he handed Alex his very first pair of drumsticks.


	7. A/N

Hello everyone! I have published another JATP fanfic on my page. It's called "It's Just Show Business." Just a warning, I have it labelled as "mature" for the fact that it is a murder mystery and it is quite violent in some parts. Also, check triggers before readings please. Thank you :)


	8. Unreliable

"Unreliable." 

It had been months since his sister first taught him that word. She'd said it while calling one of her friends. "Unreliable." That's what she'd called their parents. She told him that it meant they couldn't be trusted. That when given the choice between right and wrong they usually chose wrong. Or that they'd make promises only to break them over and over again. That's what they were. 

Unreliable parents. 

Reggie walked home alone. Again. After he'd gotten home the day before, his sister-who was only twelve-flipped out. She had called their parents from their house phone and yelled at them for neglecting to pick up their five-year-old from kindergarten. Reggie sat in his room, door closed with his hands over his ears. He hated yelling. He hated it so much. And he heard it every single day. 

His sister knew this. And she was still yelling. Yelling louder than she ever had in her life. 

Reggie didn't like hearing her yell. 

After, she'd come up to his room and held him, saying that she was sorry. It didn't matter. She'd still scared him by yelling. But, at the same time, Reggie couldn't blame her. She was only twelve, which seemed very old to him and yet he knew that she was not that old at all. And yet, she had to act like a third parent. No, not a third parent. That would mean that their parents did something that actually made them a parent when they didn't. 

Reggie's sister had to get up at five am every morning, make breakfast, wake Reggie up for school, make sure he was wearing a proper, matching outfit, and, as he ate breakfast, she would make his lunch, make sure his things were packed for school, help Reggie tie his shoes, and then walk him all the way to school and come back home to start her online classes. But she couldn't walk to pick him up. An adult had to do that. That's why she was forced to put her trust into their parents, who were proving to be ever-more unreliable. 

She was more his mother than their mom was. 

They never knew where their parents went. It was always so odd when they would leave together, sometimes even for days at a time, because, whenever they were home, they fought. Arguments would start in silence. Heavy, horrible silence that was like the calm before the storm. Then, something small would happen. Such as Reggie accidentally dropping something made of glass, his sister accidentally burning the food, or even his parents bumping into each other. It was like an explosion was set off. Screaming, yelling, and sometimes even things being thrown. So how they could stand these several-day trips together was beyond Reggie and his sister. 

When they were home and not fighting, they were usually sleeping, working, or doing anything but taking care of their own kids. These were all reasons for both Reggie and his sister to hate their parents. To want to run away or tell someone, anyone, what kind of life they lived. But they didn't. 

"Catherine, do Mom and Dad love us?" Reggie asked her awhile after he got home. 

His sister looked up from her homework and let out a sigh. "Reggie, I know that they do. They're just...lost right now." 

"Lost?" Reggie repeated. "What do you mean?" 

"You'll understand when you're older, Reggie." Catherine started writing again. 

"But how do you know they love us?" Reggie's voice broke. "They won't even come get me from school." 

Catherine stood up from her desk, crouched down and wrapped Reggie in a tight hug. "They weren't always like this, Reggie. And I'm sorry that you have to see them like this. You don't deserve it. There was a point in time where they cared. I don't quite know what happened, but...they suddenly just stopped caring." 

"Was it my fault?" 

"Oh, no, Reggie, not at all." Catherine looked him in the eyes. "Don't blame yourself for Mom and Dad's problems. They're adult problems, and there's no way that you could've caused it." 

...

Their parents' fighting was horrible that night. Reggie's dad even grabbed a vase and smashed it on the floor. That was when Catherine attempted to intercept, only to be dragged into the argument as well. Soon, all three of them were screaming at each other, and there was nothing Reggie could do about it. He was hiding behind the couch, hands over his ears as tears streamed down his face. 

There was a sharp noise, and the argument went silent. Reggie looked up, hoping to see that the argument ended, but instead saw both of his parents staring at the ground where his sister had collapsed. It was mother first who knelt by her side, asking if she was okay. 

"I'll call an ambulance. Do you know what happened?!" his dad shouted, but it wasn't angry anymore. 

It was scared. 

That was worse than the angry yelling. 

Reggie ran out of the back down, slamming it behind him. Behind him, he heard his parents shout "Reggie! No! Reggie, come back!" But he didn't want to go back. In fact, he never wanted to go back. He ran across the streets and through tall seaside grass until he came out onto the soft, wet sand of the beach. There was a place that Reggie liked to go to, but he only ever went with Catherine. 

He tried to climb up the rocks where the tidepools usually gathered. But, he slipped, cut his hand opened, and fell to the ground. It wasn't so much the fact that he'd hurt himself than all of the many things that had built up over the day that made him start to cry again. Not being picked up from school, the fact that his parents started fighting again the instant they were home, and Catherine. What had happened? She was just...on the floor. 

His parents were supposed to keep them safe. That's what Reggie had learned in daycare. That the teachers were only supposed to keep them happy and safe there but that parents had to make home happy and safe for their kids. They'd taught him and the other children at the daycare that if they weren't happy at home, they could talk to someone. But Reggie never talked to anyone, even during the worst days, because he knew from what he'd heard Catherine say to her friends on the phone that if he told someone, they'd be taken away from their family. 

And he and Catherine could be separated and never see each other again. 

That's why they just had to hope, wait, and keep silent. Even with unreliable parents. 

"Reggie! Reginald!" he heard his mother yell. "REGINALD!" 

Standing up, Reggie hid behind a rock. He had to be in trouble right now. That would be the only reason why his mom would be yelling his full name. Reggie held his hurt hand tightly to himself, hardly even breathing until he was sure that his mom had gone to look elsewhere for him. 

"Reggie?"

Reggie turned and saw Julie staring at him with a concerned expression and wiped his eyes. "You...you know my name?" 

"Yeah. We went to preschool together, right?" She pointed at his hand. "You're hurt." 

"I know," Reggie whispered. "But...what are you doing here? It's already dark out." 

"I could ask you the same thing," Julie pointed out. "I'm on a walk. With my dad. Dad!" 

Ray appeared from apparently nowhere and smiled in an assuring way. "Hello, Reggie." 

"Hi, Mr. Molina." Reggie tried his best to hide his injury. "It's very pretty right now." 

"Here, let me take a look at your hand." Crouching down, Ray held out his own hand. "Reggie, what are you doing out here by yourself?" 

"I like it here," Reggie lied. "I tried to climb the rocks and my hand got hurt." 

"Mhm." Ray observed the injury. "Nothing too bad. Just a scrape. It should probably get cleaned up and bandaged, though. Are you hurt anywhere else?" 

Reggie shook his head. "Just my hand." 

"Alright. Here." Ray reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small first aid kit, taking out some gauze and wrapping it around Reggie's hand. "This'll keep it from getting more hurt until you can get some proper help for that hand. Now, Reggie, why were you hiding from your mom?"


	9. Lucky

This was the first time Julie had seen Ray angry. And he was absolutely furious. Thankfully, Catherine had only collapsed from stress and exhaustion and could recover quickly. But Reggie's parents were now facing the threat of jail time for endangerment and neglect of children. Reggie's parents had tried to explain to Ray that Reggie was just troubled and that he ran away from home often. But Ray knew better than that. 

However, even though he was angry, he didn't yell. Reggie tensed up, raising his hands to cover his ears when he saw the angry look on Ray's face. But Ray's voice never went over it's normal tone. Letting out a sigh of relief, Reggie let his hands drop and he felt someone take one into their own hand. He looked up to see Julie standing next to him. 

"Wanna see my room?" she asked. "Dad is gonna be on the phone for a long time." 

Reggie nodded and let Julie lead him upstairs to her bedroom, his mouth dropping when she opened the door. "You have this place all to yourself?!" 

"Yeah." Julie grinned widely. "You like it?" 

"It's awesome!" Reggie exclaimed, spinning around. "It's so pretty!" 

"Want to play with some of my toys?" 

Reggie smiled shyly. "Yeah." 

...

Ray sighed, hanging up the phone. When he'd asked why Reggie was hiding from his mom, he wasn't expecting the answer "because I'm scared that they'll make me fall like my sister." He tried to get Reggie to elaborate, but there was only so much you could get out of a scared kindergartener. So, Ray decided that the best way to figure out what his next step should be was to watch Reggie's reaction to hearing that Ray was going to take him back to his parents' house. Reggie started crying immediately, saying that he didn't want to go home. 

So, Ray brought Reggie back to his house, cleaned the cut on his hand, and wrapped it in clean gauze. Then, he called Reggie's parents, demanding to know what happened. He was relieved to hear that Reggie's sister hadn't been physically abused, but the neglect was unbelievable. Catherine finally spoke up, telling paramedics about how often she and Reggie were left alone, the times that Reggie's only meal for days was lunch at school because their parents didn't go shopping before leaving, the fact that Catherine had to take upon herself all parental roles in the household, et cetra. 

This was all unbelievable. Ray could never even dare imagine himself doing something like that to Julie or his infant son Carlos. Yes, he had to leave Carlos with his sister-in-law often so that he could work, but he would always pick him up right after he left the school and even just leaving him with a trusted relative broke Ray's heart. But going on several-day trips while leaving your kids to fend for themselves when they have no access to any resources to do that? He could never. 

He wanted to ask more questions and try to understand Reggie's home life from his perspective. But, as he climbed up the stairs, he could hear laughter and whispering coming from Julie's room, and decided that those sorts of questions could be saved for later. Instead, he knocked on the door before opening it with a warm smile. 

"Hey kids. Sounds like you're having fun in here. What're you up to?" he asked. 

Julie and Reggie looked up from where they had surrounded Julie's barbie dolls with plastic dinosaurs, then back up at Ray. "They're being attacked by evil demons and they have to figure out how to escape." 

"AND they have to save the princess too or else the demons will keep coming back," Reggie added. 

"Well, I hope they succeed," Ray said. "Dinner is going to be ready soon. I'll call you down when we can eat." 

Reggie got an odd expression on his face. "You cooked dinner?" 

"Yeah! He made us baked macaroni. It's like macaroni and cheese, but you put crunchy bread stuff on it and cook it in the oven," Julie explained. "You'll like it lots." 

"My sister always makes dinner. And it's usually pancakes," he told them. "Or cereal, if she's too busy." 

"Well, I'm usually busy too, and we'll have Chinese takeout or something like that. But! I'm not busy tonight. So we're going to have a nice homemade meal." Ray started to close the door. "Have fun. I'll call for you once you need to wash up." 

Ray closed the door and walked downstairs where he started to make a Caesar salad and lemonade. He heard Carlos starting to fuss in his room, so Ray checked to make sure the timer for the macaroni wasn't about to go off before rushing into Carlos's room to scoop him out of the crib. 

"Shh, Carlos, you're alright." He rocked him gently as he grabbed a blanket to swaddle him in, placing Carlos in a baby sling so that he could finish cooking. "Julie! Reginald! Wash your hands and come down for dinner!" 

Carefully, Ray crouched down an pulled the macaroni out of the oven, one arm still around Carlos to ensure that he did not get burned. He could hear heavy footsteps of two kids running around upstairs, signaling that they were running from Julie's room to the bathroom to wash their hands as he asked. As Ray poured the lemonade into plastic cups, Julie and Reggie came jumping down the stairs. 

"Ha! I beat you!" Julie exclaimed, doing a cartwheel once she reached the bottom floor. 

"Did not. You CHEATED," Reggie protested. 

"Cheater or not, you know not to do cartwheels in the house," Ray reminded Julie. "Let's sit down before the food gets cold." 

Julie and Reggie walked into the kitchen, Reggie freezing dead in his tracks and staring up at Carlos. "You have a baby?!" 

Ray smiled, glancing down at Carlos. "Yes. This is my son, Carlos." 

Reggie's face grew excited as he turned to Julie. "You have a little brother?! You're the luckiest person in the world!" 

"He is pretty great," Julie agreed, patting the chair next to hers. "Come sit by me!" 

Climbing up on the chair, Reggie suddenly seemed nervous as he tugged on a loose string on his jacket. "Can I hold him?" 

Ray thought for a moment. "After dinner. And you have to be very careful." 

Reggie nodded vigorously. "I'll hold him very gently. Like when I held a kitten. Catherine told me that you gotta be soft so they don't get hurt." 

"Yes, just like that," Ray agreed, holding out his hands. "Julie, pray for us, please." 

...

"He's so small," Reggie whispered, voice hardly louder than a breath as he held Carlos closer to him. 

"You're only a little bit bigger than him," Julie reminded him. 

"I know! But I can walk and talk! He can't! I'm gonna protect him forever." Reggie carefully tucked Carlos's blanket tighter around him. "There. Now no cold air can get him." 

"It seems like he's in good hands," Ray decided, standing up. "I'm going to clean up after dinner. Then...we'll figure out what we're gonna do next." 

"Okay," Julie and Reggie said at the same time. 

As Ray was washing the dishes, he could hear Julie and Reggie speaking to each other quietly. He didn't quiet like to eavesdrop, but he really wanted to figure out if it was safe to return Reggie back to his parents or not. And Ray was hoping that, maybe, just maybe, Reggie would be more willing to share some more of his life with Julie. So, he turned down the water pressure and listened in. 

"You really like Carlos, huh?" Julie asked. 

"Yeah, I do. I like your whole family. And just your life. You're very lucky," Reggie told her. 

"I am?" Julie paused. "Huh. I never think that I'm lucky." 

"Well, you are. You have a cool room, a littler brother, and...your dad is super nice." Reggie started to speak a bit quieter, and Ray had to strain to hear. "And he loves you. Catherine says that mom and dad love us, but I don't think they do. At least, they don't love me. They probably love Catherine, because I've seen them hug her and stuff. But they've never hugged me or said that they love me." 

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ray turned off the water and dried his hands on a towel before walking over to open the door. There was a man and a woman standing there that had to be Reggie's parents, as the woman had his face and the man had his eyes and hair. 

"Hello. You must be Mr. Molina, Reginald's teacher. I'm his father, James, and this is my...wife...Lauren." He held out his hand for Ray to shake, but Ray made no move to take it. 

"What are you here for?" he asked. 

"We're here for our son," Lauren said quietly. "We were told that he can remain with us until we go on trial." 

"Uh huh. I'm sure. Now, answer me this: can I be assured that he will be picked up from school every day? Will he come with something more for lunch than a package of cookies because those were the only thing in the pantry? Will he continue to cover his ears and hide in the furthest corner of the playground because he's been taught that loud noises are something to be terrified of?" Ray coldly glanced between James and Lauren. 

"I...wasn't aware that he was doing that," James said gruffly. 

"Sure. Of course you didn't. Because you haven't even taken a single moment to get to know your own son. Now, do you know his favorite color?" 

Lauren glanced over at James, who shrugged, before turning back to Ray. "It's...blue. Right?" 

"Wrong." Ray crossed his arms. "That was his favorite color when he was two. It's red now. Has been ever since he saw a rose, which he tried to give to you, by the way, but was instead yelled at for picking flowers." 

He pointed at Lauren, who visibly seemed to shrink in on herself. "Well, it was from a neighbor's house and-" 

"I've also learned that his favorite animal is a jackrabbit because he likes how big their ears are and he likes their name. He likes the number four because that's how many people are in his family, and he thinks that it's sad that people don't like flies just because they're sort of annoying," Ray continued, not breaking his glare at them. "Only six hours a day, not even for a week, and I know more about him than you probably ever will. Because you're not willing to take a moment and talk to your own son." 

"Listen, we know that we messed up, but we're going to go get our son now." James tried to push past Ray, but Ray stopped him. 

"You're not going inside. I will get Reggie, and he will decide when to go with you," Ray said firmly before turning and slamming the door closed. 

"Dad, you look mad, are you okay?" Julie asked when he came into the living room. "Who was at the door?" 

"I'm okay," Ray assured her. "Reggie, your parents are here. Do you want to go home?" 

Reggie looked at him, then at Julie, then down at Carlos who was now asleep before slowly shaking his head. "I don't want to be there without Catherine. I'm scared of them without her there to make them stop yelling." 

"Alright, it's decided then." Ray left the room and opened the front door again, hands in his pockets. "Reggie would like to stay here until his sister gets home. With your permission of course." 

James and Lauren looked at each other, and then James started to stalk away. "Whatever." 

"That's fine. It's fine," Lauren muttered as she hurried after him. 

Ray let out a sigh of relief as they pulled out of the driveway, plastering a smile on his face and clapping his hands as he entered the living room. "Who wants dessert?"


	10. Cooties

"So wait, he uses the dogs to hunt raccoons?" Willie asked with a frown. "Poor raccoons." 

"Well, he's gotta get money somehow," Alex explained. "Raccoons used to be everywhere, and they still kinda are, so you didn't hurt their population by hunting them." 

"I guess that's right." Willie thought for a moment. "What's 'population'?" 

"Um...how many people or animals there are," Alex explained. "Like...we're the human population." 

"Oooh. That makes sense." Willie nodded his head. "Can you keep reading?" 

Alex nodded, continuing the chapter. He described how Billy set up a trap for the raccoons, and how he caught his first raccoon. Willie listened intently, occasionally making commentary. Even though Alex's throat was getting sore from talking for so long, he kept going because he loved to see how happy Willie was. Suddenly, Willie put his hand over Alex's. 

"Your voice is scratchy," he observed. "Are you okay?" 

"It's just tired. I need some water." Alex put the bookmark in and pulled out his water bottle from his backpack. 

"That's okay. Take a break. I'm gonna go play tag for awhile." Willie waved as he ran off before he was soon lost in the blur of the game. 

Alex sighed, somewhat relieved but also quite sad. He was back to sitting by himself, reading silently to himself. Awhile ago, Alex had decided that he didn't want to read ahead of Willie. He wanted to discover the rest of the story with him. So, he put away "Where the Red Fern Grows" and pulled out a different book that his parents had approved. Well, rather, a book that his parents had picked for him to read. It was called "Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets" and Alex was bored immediately. He had to read it though. His parents wanted him to practice writing by giving a written summary of what he read from that book every single day. He longed to be reading the far more tolerable story of "Where the Red Fern Grows" than a book that was so clearly there to tell him that he had to be perfect to avoid hardships in life. 

He didn't have a problem with the author, or the meaning of the book. But it was the fact that his parents were trying to hammer the message "know the difference between right and wrong and always choose the right or suffer" into his head that made the book so insufferable. He was tired. Only in kindergarten and he felt mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. Looking up, he wondered if he could gather the courage to ask the other kids if he could play with them. Then, he began to think of everything that could go wrong. They could laugh at him and tell him to go away. He could trip and rip his pants or shirt, which would be embarrassing and also would earn him a scolding at home. 

So, Alex decided it would be best to stay there and silently pray that Willie would come back to end his lonely feelings. 

...

Willie got bored of tag after awhile and wandered around to see if there were any other games being played. He ran across Luke, Reggie, Julie, Flynn, and Carrie who were all arguing underneath a slide. Sitting beside them, he grinned widely. 

"What are you guys playing?" he asked. "I'm bored of tag." 

"Well we WERE playing Star Wars and I was Han Solo-("I wanted to be Han Solo," Reggie grumbled)-Reggie was Luke, Julie was Leia, Flynn was Boba Fett, and Carrie was Darth Vader. And it was okay until I tried to kiss Julie and she said I couldn't do that because I have cooties!" Luke pouted. "I don't got cooties." 

"Yeah you do!" Carrie argued. "ALL boys got cooties! 'Cept Reggie because he's cool!" 

Reggie's eyes brightened. "I'm cool?" 

"You're my son in the game," Carrie reminded him. "So of course you're cool." 

"And you can't kiss me!" Julie glared at Luke. "I don't want polka dots!" 

"You'll get polka dots?" Willie asked. "Why?" 

"My dad told me that when you get cooties, you get polka dots that NEVER go away!" Flynn informed him. "And my dad is ALWAYS right." 

"But I GOTTA kiss you!" Luke told Julie. "Everyone knows that Han Solo kisses Leia!" 

"That's gross." Julie made a gagging noise. "Nasty. I'm not gonna kiss you." 

Carrie raised her hand. "I'll be Leia then!" 

"No! You'll get polka dots too!" Flynn yelled. 

"Can boys give each other cooties? Like...if I kissed a boy would he get polka dots?" 

Willie's question made Flynn think. "Maybe? I don't know. We should see! Luke, kiss Willie!" 

"NO!" Luke and Willie yelled at the same time. 

"Then how're we gonna know if it's contagious?" Flynn asked. "If you kiss someone and they don't get polka dots then you don't have cooties." 

Willie looked at Luke critically before shaking his head vigorously. "I'm still not kissin' him." 

"What about Alex?" Carrie piped up. "You LIKE him!" 

"What? No I don't! He's my friend!" Willie protested. "I'm not gonna give him cooties!" 

"OooooOOooooo! Willie's got a boyfriend!" Julie giggled. "Just a kiss on the nose? Just so that we can see if he get polka dots?" 

"He's not my boyfriend," Willie murmured. "Fine. Just a little kiss. But if he gets polka dots, I'll...I'll SUE you." 

"I don't have any money, so you can try but I won't be able to give you anything," Julie told him. "And I'm sure he'll be okay." 

Standing up, Willie looked over at Alex, who was sitting peacefully on the bench, blissfully unaware of the fact that he was now part of an experiment. "I don't wanna kiss him. This is mean." 

"Don't worry the polka dots can be covered with makeup," Flynn assured him. "My dad says that's why so many girls gotta wear makeup. And maybe if you just kiss him on the nose, he'll just get, like, two polka dots." 

Curiosity pushing him, Willie ran across the playground and stood in front of Alex. It took Alex a moment to notice Willie, but he eventually looked up. When he did, before Willie could lose his nerve, Willie leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the nose before running away. 

"I'm sorry if you get polka dots!" he shouted behind him as he ducked back behind the slide, 

Alex's heart was fluttering from nerves. It took him a second to process that Willie had just kissed him. Yes, it was on the nose, but his parents had told him that people only kiss when they're married. His face turned pink as he curled in closer to himself to hide his embarrassment. 

"Aww, no polka dots," Carries said in a disappointed voice. 

"Look, he's turning red!" Flynn gasped. "He's gonna explode!" 

"Julie, is Alex really gonna explode?" Reggie asked, his eyes wide with fear. "I don't want Alex to explode! He's my friend! Julie please tell me he's not gonna explode." 

"I think he's just shy," Julie decided. 

"Well, no polka dots!" Luke exclaimed. "Willie isn't contagious. Guess I gotta check if I've got it. Julie?" 

"NO!" Julie yelled. "I'll kick you if you try to kiss me." 

Fine," Luke sighed sadly. "I won't kiss you." 

"What about me? I said that I'd be Leia!" Carrie announced. 

"You're too pretty to risk having polka dots," Luke told her. 

"But I'm not?!" Julie huffed. 

"You're pretty too but...Um...I..." 

Thankfully, the bell rang before another argument could ensue.


	11. A/N

Hey guys sorry I haven't updated in a while it's because I was writing a Ruke fic (which I just published) about Trans!Reggie to celebrate my friend @little_cereal_draws (on insta) getting his first dose of testosterone (Yay!) So thank you for your patience and there will be updates shortly :)


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